HOW THE SKIN IS AFFECTED BY THE SUN.

Northland Age, Volume 4, Issue 3, 3 September 1907, Page 2

HOW THE SKIN IS AFFECTED BY THE SUN.

We do not think the craze to be well tanned by the sun is so prevalent as it was, at least among women. A fine coat of tan bespeaks a love of athletics, and it makes one look healthy. But now the fair ones are discovering that too long exposure to a summer sun rather coarsens the skin. Light coloured chiffon veils are, therefore, the rule, particularly among those who motor. The change from a beauty viewpoint is not wholly a bad one ; and yet the face may be too assiduously protected as well as too much exposed. Nothing more beautifies the j complexion than judicious exposure to sunlight and fresh air. The truth l of this is recognised w'hen we observe the pale, sallow complexions that prisoners acquire after even a short confinement. Plants that grow in dark places are almost colourless ; j whereas those exposed to the sun’s rays are varigated with the brightest I lines.

It is good occasionally to anoint the entire body with oil or glycerine. The application of vaseline, a camphor stick, or cold cream to the hands, lips and face at night, especially in winter, will keep the skin of those parts soft and pliable and prevent chapping. Exercise, by inducing perspiration and thus getting rid of noxious secretions, does much for the skin's health. In fact, anything that tends to raise the general bodily tone, such as proper diet plenty of fresh air,etc. conduces to beauty. Clogged pores and deficient perspiratory action are common causes of colds, fevers, and diarrhoea.

WHY THE SAILOR’S FACE IS STREAKY.

Sunbaths are extremely beneficial to the skin ; they first redden it, and then it peels, disclosing the new, delicate membrane underneath. But there is a mean in the duration of sunbaths beyond which one should not go. Constant exposure to a torrid sun destroys the skin's natural sensibility, coarsens and roughens it, and., by causing tho obstruction and rapture of its capillary arteries, imparts to it the • streaky, ruddy, weather-beaten appearance that we see in the countenances of most mariners,

The importance to health of exposing the body for a few hours, however, each day to the sunlight cannot be too strongly insisted on. The sun has remarkable germicidal powers and rooms into which it occasionlly enters are more healthful than those into which it never enters. The sun's actinic or chemical rays are great beautifiers.

When the complexion is coarse, covered with blackheads, and of a safllow colour, it is because the epidermis is of undue thickness. The rosy flips—parts where the outer skin is thin—of many yellow-complexioned persons show how essential to beauty is a thorough, though not excessive, removal of this first layer. Rubbing the face vigorously with a coarse washcloth wet with soap and water will make one as rosy as a baby. Still another way to thin the epidermis is by dry friction with a coarse towel or loofah. If never rubbed, even metals become incrusted and dull-look-ing.

CURE FOR FRECKLES

And friction ",has more than a superficial effect on the skin. By bringing blood to the surface it enlarges the capillaries which the arteries supply to the skin, and this permanently heightens the skin's colour. Again tho increased flow of blood effects a more thorough destruction of fat, whence results the peripheral firmness that is characteristic in youth. While massage has somewhat the same effect, it is not so pronounced as when it is combined with friction. The claim has been made that scrubbing the body daily with a flesh brush prolongs life, the argument being that friction, by rousing accelerating circulation in vessels of the peripheral parts, which are especially prone to decay in old age, energises’them and thus conduces to longevity. Friction was recommended by some eminent physicians as a panacea for premature decay. At all events simple rubbing with the hand, or preferably with a £love, will restore tone and colour to the most lax and pallid skin.

To remove the freckles that sometimes appear on fair-skinned persons who have, been exposed to the sun, “the frequent application of dilute spirit, or lemon juice, or a lotion formed by adding acetic, hydrochloric nitric, or sulphuric acid, or liquor of potassium, to water, until it is just strong enough to slightly prick the tongue.” has been recommended.